"Chinese Democracy" November 25th?

Hello,

With having today off I have plenty of time to write. Today I'm writing from my family's house. I have been here since Saturday night and my wife, the kids and I have been mostly having fun. My wife and I continue to mostly get along. We are both working hard to make it work, but it still is a work in progress. Then again that is how all marriages are.

On to the music: According to both ew.com and rollingstone.com when Guns n' Roses "Chinese Democracy" finally comes out, it will be exclusively sold through Best Buy. (Yeah, they have a store in SLC.) Other news about that CD, a song from it plays over the end credits in the new Russell Crowe movie "Body of Lies". The song is titled "If The World". However this track does not appear on the "Body Of Lies" soundtrack. (Thanks to both rs.com and ew.com.) So that hopefully puts us one more step closer to "Chinese Democracy". I'm still holding on to hope for this CD to actually see the light of day, no matter how unwarranted it may end up being. As usual Guns 'n Roses official website remains mum on this and almost everything else. gunsnroses.com really needs to be upgraded, they have a terrible website.

Other news: Robert Plant has officially came out and said there will be no Led Zeppelin reunion. According to his website, "Robert has no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years." Plant currently is on tour with Allison Krauss promoting their CD "Raising Sand". (Thanks to rs.com.)

If you want to see something interesting CMT has been running repeats of their own awards show. One of the award winners is Robert Plant and Allison Krauss. That is a surreal experience for him and the viewer. It would have been nice to see them perform as well. Although there were scinillating performances by Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw/ Faith Hill. My dream tour would be if Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Sugarland all toured together. They could call it the Hot Babes tour. Carrie Underwood is one of the best and most accomplished alumni of "American Idol".

Other news: The Oprah book club continues on with "The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle", it currently is ranked #10 in books on amazon.com. It trails 3 of the "Twilight" books and also an official biography of one of my heroes, Warren Buffett. I have not had much chance to read it since I have had it. Lately reading time has been spare and there are so many good books out there. I also have been reading the excellent book, "Crazy '08" by Cait N. Murphy. This is about the historic 1908 season which is the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.

Speaking of baseball playoffs, they start Wednesday. Unfortunately two of my favorite teams play each other in the first round. L.A. goes to Chicago to start the best-of-5 series with the Cubs. Also Boston goes into the playoffs playing the best team in the American League, the Angels. Other sports news: two of my teams had a rough weekend. Dallas lost at home to the hated Washington Redskins. #1 USC traveled to Oregan St. and was stunned 27-21.

A couple of other quick notes before a homage to one of my all-time favorite actors. It has been announced that Bruce Springsteen will be the halftime entertainment for the Super Bowl. No "wardrobe malfunctions" need to apply. Both Run-DMC and Metallica have been nominated to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I think both are deserving of that honor.

Last and certainly not least, Paul Newman died this past weekend at the age of 83. He is one of my all-time favorite actors. ew.com has a picture portfolio of 30 of his best movies. From that I took a list of some of my favorite Paul Newman movies. This list is in chronological order. Paul Newman was a fan of the work of Tennessee Williams, as am I. He played a part in many of the movies adapted from Williams' plays. One of his first big movies was "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", a Williams play, in 1958. He then starred in "The Hustler" which is absolutely a great movie. He also performed in both "Hud" (1963) and "Cool Hand Luke" (1967). His next significant role was in the great and hilarious "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) starring him and his buddy Robert Redford. That is probably one of the greatest endings in the history of movies.

He then was in 1973's "The Sting" and 1977's "Slap Shot". This is one of the funniest movies ever made, with the hilarious Hansen brothers. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you really need to. It currently is on Comcast On Demand. The language is terrible, if you can get past that you will have a great time. As he aged gracefully he then starred in 1981's "Fort Apache The Bronx", 1981's "Absence Of Malice" and 1982's "The Verdict". He also was in 1986's "The Color of Money".

He directed 1987's "The Glass Menagarie". Another movie adapted from the plays of Tennessee Williams. This is one of the best written stories of all-time. Newman directs it like a master. Joanne Woodward, John Malkovich and Karen Allen all play significant roles. It is one of those endings that is fantastic but sad. This is another movie you need to see and also read the play from which it comes. The story is based on Williams' life. He also was in 2002's "Road To Perdition" adapted from the graphic novel of the same name. He and Tom Hanks are fantastic in this movie. He then played a role in "Empire Falls" adapted from the excellent Richard Russo novel. I haven't seen this movie yet, but I would like to. His final role was a part in "Cars". After that he effectively retired. He said he wanted to do one more movie with Robert Redford but that obviously didn't work out. Rest in Peace, Paul. I extend my condolences to his family and all those lives he touched.

He was more than just an actor, he was also a philanthropist, a race car driver plus many other things. I once saw him when I was on vacation with my family in California.

On that sad note, that is all I have for now. themusicaddict.